astronomer wrote of an aurora that ap- peared in 1177. And more than five cen- turIes later, a great display on March 5, 1 716, was likened, in as sober a pub- lication as the Philosophical Transac- tzons of the British Royal Society, to the cupola of St. Paul's, to a painter's repre- sentation of glory radiating around the Name of God, and to the medals on the breasts of the Knights of the Garter. On a more pedestrian scientific plane, what is reliably known about auroras is that they appear most frequently and most intensely in two doughnut- shaped zones, one looped around mag- netic north and the other around mag- netic south. The center of the northern auroral zone runs through central Alaska, across Canada, lower Hudson Bay, and Labrador, to Iceland, Scan- dinavia, and, finally, Siberia. The south- ern zone is so situated that most of its auroras are seen only by the gulls, seals, penguins, and well-bundled hu- man Insurgents who frequent the edges of Antarctica. In both zones, nocturnal displays are common even in times of relative magnetic calm, but in the tem- perate and tropical regions-and also in the extreme polar regions, beyond the doughnuts-auroras occur much less often. When they do occur, it is always during magnetic storms. At such times, exceptIonally brilliant displays are sure to appear in the auroral zones, but that is only the beginnIng. Auroras may be seen-flickeringly, and often briefly, but sometimes with an intensity of illumina- tion rivalling that of the full moon- anywhere in the temperate regions, and even in the tropics. Almost the whole earth may be, for a few hours, ap- parelled in celestial light. Beyond much question, the pres- ence of an aurora indicates that a state of electrical turbulence exists in the ion- osphere, a region of ionIzed air that blankets the earth in a series of layers beginning about fifty miles up and continuing to over two hundred. Such turbulence, which invariably accompa- nies a magnetic storm, is of much more than academic interest; in fact, it IS the direct cause of radio blackout, and radio blackout is by far the most troublesome practical consequence of this sort of storm. Under normal conditions, the ionosphere is long-range radio's stauncn- est ally. Without it, unrelayed radio signals could not be received more than a few dozen miles away, since they travel in straight lines and, owing to the curva- ture of the earth, tend to shoot out into space. The ionosphere, in its ordinarv state, reflects the signals back to the earth, thus taking the place of an In- 47 THE TERRIBLE REVENGE in which Lord Huggins dreams of grim retaliation against the Colonies by throw- ing Lamplighter over the side in Boston harbor! (because all Lamplighter London Dry Gin is exported to America). ,.,,_ ;__ _:::. == :,:--: ... ,c'':::-;: .::''; ::::-:''-.:::':r_::': --...." ,I' ,.,. \'''' \ \ \ \ \ \ \..\ \ \ \ , , \ , - , . \ 1 " \1 .:\ : ! \ . , , , . I '. * /', 1 ( . . . . . . . . , , . , I , ...., I // .I' ; - ." LAMPLIGHTER GIN The costlier English Gin Americans now have firmly in hand-as dryas you can buy. DISTlUED LONDON DRY ___ : GIR } O\ST llED fROM 100\ .. o I>RA M fUTRAlS RITS è '(.so r ( fO. ØO .'O .co uo LONDON DRY GIN DISTILLED FROM GRAIN 94 PROOF MPORTED BY McKESSON & ROBBINS, INC., N. Y., N. Y. -= -Sê =- = = ; P()R TEo FROM f.NG"' s ORY AS YOU CAN e , -=-.. -/ -- 4 . '- --? @1958 McKesson & Robbins Inc., N. Y., N. Y